The Long Dark
by RaichuTec
Summary: This was written to force myself to think a little more about Squall and Rinoa. I'm not sure if it's done yet or not.
1. Prologue: Edge of Thorn

Standard Disclaimer: Final Fantasy characters and settings belong to Squaresoft. 

Author's Words: Hey hey. I was going to write about Quistis, but I had this oddball idea, and decided to stop being mean to all you Rinoa and Squall fans. Hence, this little story. I'll also be combining chapters a bit from now on, so after the Prologue, I may take a few days to get another segment up. Patience is a virtue. (Though I've never been very virtuous myself.) Thanks again to Diablos and Selphie for listening to me babble about this. You guys rock. :)

**Prologue: Edge of Thorns**

Nighttime in Balamb. Somewhere nigh to ten o'clock. Squall Leonhart found himself at a perch all too familiar since the end of the Second Sorceress War. The deck outside Garden, where the night air wound through his tousled hair and the sleepy countryside surrounding the complex offered some semblance of peace to a troubled mind. Today especially he needed the respite. One year ago Rinoa had walked out of his life permanently. The rebellion in Galbadia, and after that the trouble with Irvine followed by his and Selphie's rather unexpected wedding had distracted him from lamenting her loss. After that, he stumbled through his days, performing his duties with a cold detachment.

All the heroes of the Second Sorceress War scattering to the four winds didn't help either. Selphie and Irvine left for Trabia, assuming their own duties as Head Mistress and Commander. Occasionally he at least heard from Irvine, but communication between them was few and far between. Squall tried keeping it strictly business also, even if the cowboy attempted personal contacts on occasion. Quistis disappeared for Galbadia Garden, aiding Seifer in the rebuilding efforts underway. He heard from her less than he did Irvine. Zell was the only one left at Balamb now besides Squall, though the commander wasn't sure how much longer that would last. The martial artist recently got engaged to that dark haired library girl he'd been dating. The second of their little circle to take that road. Third... if you counted Irvine and Selphie separately, and Squall did not, not anymore.

_We're all growing up. We were kids when we fought Ultimecia, kids who had to become adults before our time. Now we really are adults. What's happened to us? We're all scattered across the globe. Where's Rinoa now? Is she happy? Does she think of me?_

Footfalls against the tiles of the deck distracted him from his brooding and he turned, expecting to see Zell. No one else bothered him here any more. To his surprise, Irvine Kinneas stood in the entryway, smiling at his fellow Commander with all that irritating smugness Squall first hated about him. They merely looked at one another for a long moment, no words being exchanged. Squall tried to remember if he'd known about this ahead of time. So much paperwork crossing his desk, communiqués to be answered, meetings and... he often got bogged down, forgetting little things unless reminded.

"No, Squall, I didn't send word of my arrival ahead of time, quit worrying," Irvine said, that smile never fading from his lips. He hadn't changed much, other than appear a year or two older. Marriage aged him, he claimed jokingly, though certainly not in Selphie's presence. From all reports Squall had gotten out of Trabia, he and Selphie excelled in their positions, making Trabia fully able to support training SeeDs again. He had suggested allowing them to test as well, thereby making Trabia more autonomous and less of a satellite Garden, but Irvine refused, deferring still to Squall. He wanted to keep the Gardens all connected, and making all candidates transfer to Balamb for final exams did just that, in his opinion. Apparently his only failing had to do with his wardrobe, he forsook his Commander's uniform for all but special events, refusing to be anything like the straight laced Martine, former Headmaster of Galbadia Garden. Though Squall usually prefered protocol, he actually understood the cowboy on that point. He still hadn't abandoned his leather outfit, either.

Squall scowled at him then, looking away briefly. He knew he was predictable, the cowboy didn't need to rub it in, "What about--"

"Selphie's not here either, she's still recovering."

Squall openly glared at Irvine's interruption. It was tempting to snap at him, but he held his ire in check. Spending his days dealing with people on a constant basis, he slowly grew accustomed to biting his tongue. Silence stretched out, and the commander waited for Irvine to say something else, but he didn't, walking out to lean against the railing of the deck, flicking the wedding band on his left hand around and around on his finger. It gave Squall a moment to regain his composure. At least the cowboy was learning when to shut up at times.

"I heard the news. Congratulations," he said quietly. Last Squall heard, Selphie had given birth to a son. Irvine shrugged, suddenly a little embarrassed. He reached up and swiped at his bangs from beneath the rim of his hat.

"Yeah... Vaniel's changed everything," he admitted looking down at the wedding band again in muted fascination, "Almost lost Selphie, I was worried about that... she's so small. It's why she couldn't come with me, took a lot out of her."

Squall glanced at Irvine from the corner of his vision. No one ever told him that much, only that she had some complications. "I'm glad she's all right," he offered uncertainly. Even though Irvine was a friend, one of the orphanage kids, there would always be a degree of separation for Squall. Not just from the cowboy, from all of them. He noticed it more and more as everyone parted ways and continued with their lives while he felt stuck in a never ending loop at Balamb. _I deal with so many people every day. I touch their lives, give them direction, and yet she's the only one who could touch mine. Rinoa... why did I let you go?_

Squall realized he was thinking again, and Irvine hadn't interrupted him. The cowboy was staring at him, though, solicitousness in his eyes. Suddenly it dawned on Balamb's Commander that he hadn't the slightest idea why Trabia's Commander paid him this unexpected visit.

"Quisty contacted me. She's worried about you," Irvine explained right then, as if he'd read Squall's thoughts, "So I came back to talk to you, about Rinoa."

Suddenly it all made sense. Everyone left him alone in regards to Rinoa's departure. Everyone _except_ Quistis. They argued after she'd returned from the Galbadia mission. She called him a pitiful fool and insisted he go to Timber to get Rinoa back, even if he had to beg her on his hands and knees. Out of sheer stubbornness, he refused. The two didn't speak to one another for a month after that, not till he sent her off with Zell and Irvine on that disaster mission to Valsaar. Even after that, she attempted occasionally to inquire about Rinoa. She tried locating the Sorceress for Selphie and Irvine's wedding, finding that she wasn't in Timber any longer, and General Caraway had not heard from her in months. Gone. She had simply vanished.

_She's a Sorceress though. It's been a year. How much of her has changed? Does she even want me back in her life? Quistis, you just don't give up, do you. Sending Irvine in where you knew you'd be rejected. I don't want to talk about this._

"Stop thinking, start talking, Squally," Irvine insisted, his tone turning stern. The cowboy understood Squall, to a degree, having taken the loner stance for a long time before Selphie came along. Squall folded his arms over his chest, refusing to look at Irvine. A petulant frown crossed his features stubbornly as he turned away. _This is no more your business than it is Quistis', Irvine. I'm sure you mean well, but that doesn't change anything. Rinoa's gone, she left, and it was her choice. Who am I to question that?_

"Dammit, Squall. I saw you crying when you were four and you fell on the stairs at the orphanage and skinned both your knees. Don't tell me you can't open up to me now," Irvine snapped. Someone needed to slap Balamb's Commander for his stubborn refusals, and Irvine Kinneas intended to do just that. Quistis might attempt to empathize with Squall, read into his emotions, sort them out and coax him, but the cowboy felt that sometimes a little bit of straightforward blunt trauma was the only thing that'd get through his thick skull.

Angrily, Squall turned his stormy gaze back toward the gunman. Cornflower blue and azure-gray met and a staring contest began. It ended with Irvine the winner. "What do you want to know about Rinoa, Irvine. She's been gone a year. No one knows where she is," Squall asked, conceding to his defeat. To his chagrin, the cowboy suddenly grinned, reaching up to adjust his hat idly.

"That's why we're going to go find her."


	2. Chance

Standard Disclaimer: Final Fantasy characters and settings belong to Squaresoft. 

Author's note: Before the flames start. Before you all threaten to murder me for this chapter. Please remember that I like surreal and strange twists and just because something -seems- to be one way doesn't necessarily mean it really is. I like to make people think. ;) And I know I was going to try combining chapters, but for the life of me, I just have no patience. That and I'd like to know just how badly people are going to hurt me for this before I keep going.

**Chapter 1: Chance**

He floated in an ethereal haze, balanced somewhere between reality and the dreamworld. Memories he thought long ago eaten surfaced in front of him. Seifer's snarl, the battle between them somewhere at the age of ten that ended up with Squall being tossed into the moat in the middle of the Atrium. A ritual for anyone who got on Seifer's 'list'. Eating lunch in the cafeteria with Zell around the age of twelve, which turned into a food fight between him and a bunch of kids at the other end of the table. Squall got up and walked away from that one tersely. Quistis' classroom, and his seat way at the back. She made him sit up front one day, only to change her mind by the end of class. He stared at her angrily the whole time.

_Where am I? Why am I remembering these things?_

A flash of light, the memories shift and Zell's scream rips across the canyons of Squall's mind. He reaches out to the martial artist, but it's too late. With a horror that slows to a crawl, time subjects him to witness Zell's death in agonizing helplessness. Too far away, he's too far away. Why can't he cast a spell? He can't even scream. His mouth hangs open, but no sound pours forth. Zell slumps to the ground, eyes glassy, staring at the skies as if begging for a mercy they could not give.

_Zell! She... she killed you. No, please, please stop. Don't make me see this again._

Someone shoved Squall to the side, knocking him to the ground. The gunblade fumbled from weakened fingers, but he grabbed for the handle again and whirled around, only to see Irvine slumped on the ground, heaving for breath where Squall stood just moments before. He rushed to the gunman's side, realizing quickly the gravity of the situation. His entire chest torn open, Squall could even see the whites of his ribs. There wasn't much time. He couldn't even say good-bye, helpless as he was with Zell. All he could do was hold him, and let him die.

_Stop it! Oh Hyne, please stop it and just let me die!_

And then she appeared. Cold and beautiful as a star in the night sky. He wanted to shout at her, why! Why was she doing this! He loved her. Even if all the world turned against her, he pledged to himself that he would be her knight. What happened to the warmth she exuded? Where was the girl who'd stolen his heart? Had a year changed her so drastically? She reached for him and she was smiling. Her mouth moved and his memory distorted her voice.

_I wanted to hear your voice. But it wasn't the same. You've changed, you're not Rinoa anymore. What happened to you?_

"Yeah! It'll be just like old times, right Squall?"

_Yeah, just like old times, Zell. Only the last time, I didn't watch you die. What's your fiancee going to say when I have to tell her I couldn't help you, I couldn't save you, I had to let you go. Zell, spiky haired, cry baby Zell. Loud and energetic and boisterous. And now you're a memory. I wish we never asked you to go with us on this journey. I wish I said no to Irvine. I wish..._

"Hey, Squall, come on before the train leaves!"

_Irvine, Selphie is going to kill me. You tried, you did all of this for me, and look where it got you. Is this worth the price of fitting in with the rest of us? You had a wife and a son -- a son, oh Hyne, I've half orphaned another kid. Selphie I'm so sorry, I couldn't save him either. I held him only to watch the light die in his eyes. I hope you can forgive me, if I survive this._

"It's not time yet, for you. You'll come back to me soon."

_You bitch..._

"You bitch!"

"Squall?"

The voice brought him out of the haze, hurling him like a catapulted stone into the glare of lights overhead. He blinked stormy gray eyes repeatedly, wondering why he couldn't sit up like he wanted to. A headache pounded in his temple, each heartbeat making it throb dully against his temples. The scent of sterile linens and anti-bacterial cleaner and a woman's perfume filled his nostrils. He turned his head to the side, blurry vision slowly clearing until he realized he was staring at Ellone. She smiled at him, though it was both relieved and concerned, and reached out to brush unruly hair from his forehead. Dark circles ringed the area under her eyes. Had she sat by his bedside all this time? How much time was that?

"You had us all scared to death, Squall."

"Sis? How did I get here?" he asked, at least he had his voice again. Her mere presence comforted him, let him relax in way he simply couldn't with anyone else. Was he in Esthar? It was a hospital at least, the machinery hummed and blipped softly around him and he was attached to several of them via the crook of his arm or one of his wrists. An oxygen tube rested against his upper lip. _How badly injured am I? I can't even tell. I can hardly feel anything._

"We found you on the plains outside the city, you're in Esthar. It's been two weeks since then. We weren't sure if you were going to ever wake up," Ellone explained and her eyes both threatened to spill crystalline tears. She couldn't take her hand away from his face, fingers brushing against his cheek.

Two weeks? He had been unconscious for two weeks? Struggling to sit up, Squall found that his limbs simply wouldn't obey him, resulting in some odd squirm and Ellone's insistent hand on his chest as she shook her head. He stopped and whimpered, feeling very much like the lost little boy Sis left behind at the orphanage all those years ago. He didn't have time to be stuck in a hospital, no time for recovery from grievous wounds. Irvine and Zell were dead. And he had to somehow avenge them.

"Squall... please don't, you've broken several vertebrae in your back. Regenerative efforts are underway, but you need to lie still. It's going to be a long road to recovery," Ellone said, only removing her hand from his chest when he ceased his struggles to move. He was lucky to be alive, yet someone left a Regen spell cast on him, and that alone enabled him to survive until someone discovered him. He settled down without arguing, surprising for a man as stubborn as Squall Leonhart was. Something haunted his eyes, however, and she knew then that she didn't want to look into his recent past. Always broody, she'd never seen such pain before. But, for others, she had to ask.

"What happened to Irvine and Zell? We've searched for them too but..." she trailed off as Squall visibly winced. Oh, everyone already braced themselves for the news, but there was always the glimmer of hope. Her hands touched her mouth, a gesture of denial as he confirmed her worst fears.

Quistis and Selphie waited in Laguna's office, everyone cooing over the infant in Selphie's lap rather than concentrating on Squall's condition. Kiros and Ward teased Esthar's president mercilessly, bringing a bit of mirth to the group, even if it hung abjectly off the hangnail of their thoughts. Squall was badly injured, and neither Zell or Irvine found anywhere near him, though the cowboy's shotgun had been recovered nearby. They held onto the dim glimmer of hope that the two were being held prisoner, that Squall was thought too far gone to hold too and left behind. With Balamb's Commander unconscious for two weeks, however, all anyone could do was wait.

Ellone entered solemnly. Her news was grave, and as much as she wanted somehow to smile, she couldn't. All she could do was watch Selphie, then the baby she cradled in her arms. It was to Trabia's Headmistress that she went first, leaning over and quietly asking to hold the baby. Selphie's brows furrowed, confused by the expression on Ellone's face, but she'd let everyone hold him, and lifted Vaniel up enough for the older woman to take him into her arms. The room fell into silence, even Kiros and Ward sensed that something was amiss. Ellone's reasons for wanting to hold Vaniel were numerous. He had his father's eyes, with their soft blue color even, and a smattering of light colored hair that might someday darken a bit to match Selphie's. She imagined he'd be a lady-killer someday, just like his father had been. She also didn't want Selphie holding the child when she gave her the news.

"Squall's awake," she announced to the room. Everyone should have cheered. There should have been looks of relief and a lifting of the tension that squeezed them all. She only felt it tighten, all eyes furtively darting toward Selphie. Ellone felt hot tears fall down her cheeks, unable to hold them back any longer. "I'm sorry, Selphie. Squall says that..." she trailed off, unable to even finish. Quistis leaned in immediately as she saw the look on Selphie's face, a moment to digest the news before the dam broke and she allowed herself to be cradled against the other's shoulder, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.

Even as Trabia's Headmistress cried against her, Quistis sat up slightly, her eyes misted but her stance as regal and calm as always. Ellone realized with sadness that the instructor was attempting to remain the strong one for now, to break down at a later time. "And Zell?"

A strong hand fell on Ellone's shoulder and she glanced up to see her Uncle Laguna there, his gaze concerned, sad, but supportive. He took Vaniel from her then, letting her go to Quistis and Selphie, and join them in their collective grief.


	3. One Child

**Chapter 2: One Child**

**_Four Months Later_**

A memorial was eventually held for Irvine and Zell. Squall insisted on being there to give a speech, even if it had to be in a wheelchair. He could walk, barely, but the doctors in Esthar still told him it might take years before he regained full mobility, if ever. They repaired his spine, medical advances combined with paramagicks. If not for the research done by Dr. Odine, Squall would never walk again at all. The Quad filled with Cadets and SeeDs alike, everyone solemn, the hollow ringing of boots and shoes against the floor far louder than any voices. Zell and Irvine were heroes in many eyes, two who fought to defeat Ultimecia, to save the world from her machinations. Like the others, many immortalized them, and their deaths affected the morale in Garden. Squall hoped to somehow regain some of the lost morale, and keep everyone from making rosy memories of them at the same time. He hated the idea of turning either of them into martyrs.

On the stage, Squall sat between Quistis and Ellone. Selphie sat on Quistis' other side, holding Vaniel on her lap. Dressed in mourning black, she looked out of place. Sunny hues fit her better, but since Irvine's death, she stuck to somber colors or ran around in his clothing. Part of the grieving process for her, and no one blamed her. Squall still felt awkward talking with her. She tried to convince him that she didn't blame him for her husband's death, or Zell's for that matter, but try as she might, the commander couldn't shake his guilt. Always looked up to, always considered the leader, he failed them, and now they were gone.

As soon as the Garden bell tolled solemnly to bring the event to order, Squall signaled Ellone to help him wheel up to the podium. They had chosen a short one, just for Garden's Commander, considering his current condition. The faces he looked out on reflected the mood, somber, sullen, sad. _Zell and Irvine would hate to know we're doing this to honor their memory. I can almost hear them protesting it now..._

For effect, he paused, resting his elbows on the podium as he leaned across it like a table. People shifted in their seats, there were already numerous tears flowing, people who either knew or knew of the two comforting one another. Tissues and handkerchiefs were passed around down the rows. He frowned deeply, and decided to toss aside his prepared speech. He only hoped someone did the same for him, whenever his time came.

"Why are we doing this?" he asked. Confusion collectively rose from the aisles. Quistis and Ellone and Selphie exchanged looks, and he caught that via peripheral vision. He paused again, realizing with a nervous certainty that he was ad libing, and public speeches never were his strong point. Speaking from the heart, even less so. "Do any of you really think this is what Zell Dinct or Irvine Kinneas would really want? All of us sitting here, bringing up old memories of them and honoring them with a sad memorial, laying those memories to rest with the ghosts of the halls here? I don't think so."

Shock filled the Quad, Squall Leonhart, the cold and taciturn Commander of Balamb Garden, was refusing to be terse, just this once. His words were working, though, he could see it in the crowd. Teary eyes dried, murmurs rose through the rows, people were nodding in agreement. He continued, grabbing whatever thought first entered his head. This was maddeningly nerve wracking, and after this, he expected all of them to leave him alone about speaking his mind from now on.

"Zell and Irvine grew up in an orphanage, they came to Garden with a dream, they saw those dreams fulfilled. They lived and died by their ideals. These were all the boring and trite things I planned to say. Now, I'm not going to bother. Quite frankly, we should be celebrating their lives rather than mourning their deaths. Let's face it, neither of them were perfect either. How many of you were totally irritated by Zell's mouth at times? Or make him just sit down and not fidget for two seconds? And Irvine, I'm not sure I should even go there. I wanted to slug him every time he gave me that irritating smirk. I'd give anything to see that smirk, or hear that boisterous voice again, but I won't. Why should we forget these quirks, though? Remember the real Zell and the real Irvine, people, don't immortalize them behind rosy glass casings. I think that's what they would want the most."

Silence greeted him at the end of his monologue. Suddenly he wondered if he'd been right to speak so frankly about the two. Then someone began to clap in the sea of faces, followed by another, and then still others. Soon the entire room erupted in applause and people began to stand up. Squall inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, it worked. Now he'd need the afternoon to recover, and prayed no one would ask him to ever do this again. Ellone squeezed his shoulder and he glanced up at her to see the tears glistening in her eyes. These were not tears of sadness, he realized, nor even tears shed for the two being honored. She was proud of him. Of _him_.

"Thank you, Squall," Selphie said, now standing at Squall's side. Quistis stood beside Ellone, the trio surrounding the Commander around the podium, not allowing him to escape just yet. Selphie even went so far as to set Vaniel in his lap and he awkwardly held the infant, frowning tersely at his mother. Babies weren't his strong point either. She was due to give the next speech however, as Trabia transfers were also in the crowd, and they wanted to hear from their former Headmistress on their late Commander. Applause began to die as Ellone moved the wheelchair, containing Squall and infant, back to the seated area atop the stage, everyone waiting to hear from Selphie now.

She never got a chance to utter a word for the crowd.

A sliver of light penetrated the aisle that divided the Quad into two areas of seating. Slowly it opened outward into a tall oval, at least nine feet in height. The light danced and swirled with eddies of blue and gold, shimmering so brightly that those sitting nearby threw up their hands to shield their eyes, or were forced to look away all together. Murmurs rose through the crowd, many standing to get a better look at the spectacle. Squall felt the hairs on the back of his neck begin to rise, wishing he were not bound to the wheelchair. He didn't even have his gunblade with him. The infant in his arms cooed suddenly, cornflower blue eyes gazing out at the crowd as if somehow he too knew what was going on, though that was clearly impossible.

When Zell Dincht emerged from the ethereal portal, everyone gasped. A second later, Irvine Kinneas followed him, shotgun in hand. Neither of them smiled, or bore any expression on their faces. Selphie gaped as her husband and the martial artist walked down the small aisle toward the stage, splitting up to walk onto the stage by the steps on either side. Everyone in the Quad stared in stunned, rapt fascination. Squall watched them warily, hardly understanding what was going on. Vaniel began to fuss and Ellone instinctively reached for him, taking him into her arms as she backed away at the insistence of the White SeeDs who acted as her personal guard. Irvine paused right by Squall, shotgun leveled at him.

"Rumors of our deaths are greatly exaggerated," he said, though his voice remained terribly deadpan, and no familiar smirk crossed his lips. Zell drew Selphie away from the podium, an easy feat as the Headmistress was too stunned to pull away from him. She craned her neck to look at Irvine, whispering his name in disbelief. All attention returned to the portal as a new figure emerged.

A Sorceress, anyone could tell by the elaborations made to her body. Dressed in light blue, her silken gown drifted well past her ankles, the tail following her, obedient to her graceful movements. Dark eyes regarded the crowd with a distant arrogance, like a star shedding cold light upon the night sky. Cut in a brazen manner, the collar dipped low, nearly down to her navel and the sleeves bore wisps of translucent fabric that drifted around her in an unfelt breeze. Angel wings jutted out from her back, though they dipped low toward the ground, the tips stained black as tar. Everyone on the stage, save for Zell and Irvine, gaped as they recognized her.

"Rinoa," Quistis gasped.


	4. Confusion

Standard Disclaimer: Final Fantasy characters and settings belong to Squaresoft. Lyrics belong to Nightwish and Savatage. All else is mine. 

Author's Note: This is getting rather twisted. Who knows where I'll take it next.

**Chapter 3: Confusion**

_Wake up._

She struggled to emerge from the soft cocoon that surrounded her. Murky, watery depths blurred her vision as warm brown eyes popped open, blinking dully, sluggish. Her limbs would not obey her, left drifting at her sides. Small patches, tendrils of alien technology, linked to her flesh, draining her lifeforce into the cubical that held her. Rinoa Heartilly wanted to breathe, but dare not. The gel-like liquid surrounding her would surely choke her lungs. Strangely, the urge to breathe was not a necessity so much as a whim. Where was she? How did she come here? Blurry, her surroundings were barely discernible outside the clear walls of her prison.

Something stirred at the back of her consciousness, a slithering, slimy sort of caress. Adel. The Sorceress resisted the urge to shudder, or even to acknowledge the touch. To do so would alert the other woman that she had awoken again, and it would mean a swift descent back into the darkness of slumber. So rarely she awoke, and never for long. Adel preferred her host to remain unaware. Rinoa closed her eyes again, concentrating, quietly and oh so carefully stretching out her mental hands across the spans of time and space. Cold prickles tickled her body, like tiny needles of ice pressed under her flesh. The world and all its senses rushed into her so quickly she nearly drowned as her real body tried to breathe.

_Zell? Can you hear me?_

_One child hid inside the darkness_  
_One child never said a thing_  
_One child closed his eyes and disappeared_  
_But at night I still can hear him whispering, whispering, whisper..._

Shocked silence filled the Quad. Everyone stared at Sorceress Rinoa, denial and disbelief coloring their expressions. Squall felt his blood run cold, and it was not because Irvine Kinneas stood beside him, placing the barrel of the powerful Exeter against his temple. Didn't they recover his shotgun at the scene? How did he have it now anyway? The questions went as unanswered as the changed appearance of Rinoa. So symbolic, he realized, the dipped angel wings, tipped with black. He openly gaped at the woman he once swore to love as she gracefully approached the stage, wisps of fabric trailing after her ethereally. How beautiful she was, even now, corrupted. A fallen angel.

"Squall Leonhart. The crippled Commander of Garden," Rinoa began, but it was not Rinoa's voice. Distorted, deeper, she sounded so unlike the soft soprano he remembered fondly. To the stage she ascended like a Queen taking her throne, reaching out toward Selphie as she passed the Headmistress in Zell's grip. Delicate fingers drifted over the small girl's cheek and made her shudder. A cryptic smile never left the Sorceress' lips, arrogant and frosty and so coldly beautiful that Squall simply couldn't take his eyes off of her. A dramatic pause thickened the atmosphere, as if a thousand breaths caught in their throats.

"Foolish SeeDs, created to fight _the _Sorceress. Well. I _am _a Sorceress. So now you will fight against me, won't you?" Rinoa snarled at the crowd gathered. "Or will you?" her tone suddenly turned rather sweet, like overly ripe fruit about to drip from the vine, "if it means risking your beloved, crippled Commander." For emphasis, Irvine pulled back on the safety of Exeter, the click somehow echoing through the Quad with the deafening silence that followed Rinoa's threats. Squall flicked gray eyes up toward the gunman, studying the taller man's features cautiously. He saw nothing but a blank stare, cornflower blue muted, as if the lights were on upstairs, but no one was actually home. Did Rinoa somehow have control over him? He'd never heard her mention mind control, but then again, he had no idea what sort of magicks Sorceresses had access to.

"Irvine, please, don't do this!" Selphie wailed, suddenly struggling against Zell's grip. The gunman never even looked at her, not even as Zell backhanded her to squelch her struggles. Quistis watched Rinoa's back, glancing between Zell and Irvine as she calculated and weighed the risks versus the consequences. No one would attempt to intervene, not knowing how good a shot Irvine was. If Rinoa has him and Zell under her thrall, then the ante was up, and she held all the cards.

Rinoa merely smiled at the dazed Selphie, reaching out to touch her cheek, "Shhh, it's all right, Headmistress Kinneas. Obey me as your husband does, and you too will know my glory." Back to the crowd she chuckled, a dark, horrible and twisted version of the girl they all knew and once adored. "And you all will serve me, for SeeD no longer fights against the Sorceress. You fight for her!"

Selphie's high pitched shriek rocketed through the Quad loud and shrill enough to draw everyone's eyes toward her. Even Rinoa's expression twisted from arrogantly pleased to honestly shocked as she saw Zell suddenly begin to melt, features and body blending together and fading away to reveal some sort of twisted clay creature beneath. The Headmistress shouted some explicative and kicked at the creature, drawing her arm free from it with a residue of yellowish slime on her arms.

"No! You brat!" the Sorceress hissed, falling to her knees as she grasped at her head. The figure resembling Irvine suddenly began to blur a second later, the Exeter merely an extension of its body. The White SeeDs at Ellone's side took the opportunity to jump toward it, someone jerking Squall's wheelchair backward, dragging him away from the scene even as he yelled for them to stop.

And within seconds, all hell broke loose in Garden.

_Can you hear me now?_  
_Or are there just too many doors_  
_Between then and now_  
_For me to ever reach on through_  
_Pull you back somehow_  
_That don't happen anymore_  
_Still in the night_  
_I think I hear you calling_

_Wake up._

Slowly Zell felt the drowsy warmth around him begin to fade, blue eyes slowly lifting open, staring through some odd gel-like substance that kept him in suspended animation. He turned his head, from left to right, startled to find himself submerged. How long had he been here? Why did he not feel the need to breathe? Glancing down, he realized his arms and legs were bound to this odd prison by frond-like tentacles that attached themselves to his body via pads at the ends of each tendril. He willed his muscles to obey him, and found himself able to twitch, but not much else.

_Zell? Are you awake? Can you hear me? Please, wake up. Don't talk, speak with your thoughts. You'll die otherwise._

_Uh, yeah, who is this?_

_It's Rinoa._

_Rinoa! You... what's going on? Why'd you do this!_

_Do what? Oh Zell, hear me out, I don't know what Adel has done while I've been asleep, but I swear to you it was not me or my will._

_Adel! We killed her!_

_We killed her body._

_Oh. So... what's going on? Why can't I move?_

_You can't move either? Oh no... try, please. If she realizes I'm awake, she'll put me back to sleep. You have to get us out of here._

He attempted again to make his arms move, and only twitched. Zell Dincht was not about to have some weird wires attached to his body, however. Putting his entire concentration behind it, he felt something snap. He glanced down, realizing several of the strange suckers that linked to his arm had popped off, leaving reddish pock marks behind. Blood oozed lazily into the gel surrounding him. Disgusted by it, he began slowly to move the arm around, further freeing it of the last remaining suckers. Then, reaching across his chest, he grabbed a handful of the tentacles and began to pull. In this manner he took his time to free himself of the ties that bound him, though there appeared to be a price. His lungs, deprived of air, began to constrict as the rest of his body awoke and oxygen was no longer provided to him via the umbilical tendrils. He swam toward the top and pounded on the metal there. It wouldn't budge. Winding up a fist, he struck at the front panel of the glass that encased him, slowed by the fluid that kept him from indulging his lungs. It impacted, but merely shattered a fist sized portion of it, though cracks radiated out from the center of the strike. Punching the same spot a second time, the glass finally shattered outward, the rush of liquid pouring forth to further the breakage. Wet and gasping, Zell struck the dirt unceremoniously... but he was free.

_You still there, Rinoa? I'm out!_

No reply. Either she'd been put back to sleep or when he'd pulled himself free, he'd lost the ability to keep the mindlink. He leapt to his feet immediately, wiping the gel from his face with a disgusted expression. It felt as if he'd been dipped in petroleum jelly or slimed with oozing tar. Gaping upward, he realized he was standing in Tear's Point, the cracked statues staring down at him with an ageless gaze. Turning, he glanced over the odd, square shaped cells they'd all come across once during the Second Sorceress War. No one understood them then anymore then Zell did now, but at least he saw something within them this time. Beside the shattered cell he'd once occupied he recognized both Rinoa Heartilly and Irvine Kinneas in similar circumstances, floating inside their glass prisons with those white, alien tentacles attached to their bodies. He rushed toward Rinoa's first, fists shattering the glass with much more ease this time. He caught her as she fell, gasping for air and wincing in pain as he ripped her free from the writhing alien technology that tried to hold onto her in vain.

"Get... Irvine... out," she gasped, clumsily getting to her feet. As the martial artist turned to obey her, she immediately cast a Cure spell on herself, ridding herself of the horrible sensation of her lifeforce being slowly suckled from her body. A crash of glass caught her attention and she turned in time to watch Zell manage to catch Irvine before he hit the ground and rushed over to help him pull the vampiric limbs off the gunman. She was free, finally. They all were.


	5. Hanging On

Standard Disclaimer: Final Fantasy characters and setting belong to Squaresoft. Lyrics belong to Savatage. Everything else, as usual, is mine.

Author's Voice: Sorry it took me so long to get this up. Hopefully I'll be able to continue unabated now.   


**Chapter 4: Hanging On**

_I will believe in you_  
_if you still want me to_  
_or tell me I'm on my own_

Emerging from Tear's Point, Rinoa, Zell and Irvine said nary a word to one another. The strange, viscous fluid that clung to them began to dry in white flakes, left behind like trails of warm snow. Rinoa brushed it from her hair almost as vigorously as Irvine did. The plains that surrounded Esthar stretched out in front of them with no end in sight, even though all three knew that Esthar City itself was to the north. None of the dangerous creatures that roamed the hillsides bothered him, save for one torama, which quickly regretted challenging them when it exploded in a ball of fire. Rinoa wanted nothing more than to be safely inside the confines of a city again, back with friends. Maybe she would even see Squall again, if he wanted her anywhere near him. She had no patience to battle with random wildlife and when the torama leapt into their path, she gave it a swift and sudden death.

Irvine and Zell exchanged looks, a certain apprehensive tension tightening in their stances. Rinoa noticed how the pair seemed to drift away from her after that and inside it saddened her. Zell had described how they'd both been killed, and then returned to life by Adel in her body. The sorceress wasn't sure how to tell them it wasn't her, merely an illusion of her used by Adel. Would they even believe her? Would anyone believe her in Esthar either, or would they try to put her back in the Sorceress Memorial? If they did, she wouldn't stop them this time, and didn't expect that Squall would rescue her either. Not this time.

By nightfall, Esthar loomed before them, the grand and technological city only more glamorous since the end of the Second Sorceress War. Repairs had to be made after the Lunar Cry, but under President Loire, the city still prospered. Carried into the heart of the city by the elevator, Rinoa finally allowed herself to relax. Adel couldn't get to her here, not with so many minds surrounding her, it'd be like seeking a needle in a haystack. She had no idea where the spectral form of the former Sorceress lurked now, but she didn't feel her near, and that meant a little respite for the time being.

Esthar guards, in their pearly uniforms, greeted the trio, and then did a double-take as they realized just who they were greeting. Immediately they were escorted to the Presidential Palace, and asked to wait until President Loire could be contacted. Much to their irony, Garden was holding a memorial for Zell and Irvine that day, and the President was in attendance, as were both his aides and his neice, Ellone. Zell started pacing immediately, then shadow-boxing near the wall. Irvine slouched down on one of the couches, tipping his hat low over his brow and stretching out long legs. Rinoa sighed heavily in the still silence and watched the two boys, idly realizing that neither were really boys anymore, and she was no longer a little girl. How long had she been trapped at Tear's Point? What had happened to everyone while she languished in that prison?

"Rinoa?" Irvine's voice derailed the sorceress' train of thought and she looked up abruptly, sweeping a hand through her hair to brush it aside. Had he asked her a question? She hadn't been paying attention.

"Squall still loves you," he said quietly once he had her attention. Zell stopped his constant movement to nod in agreement with the gunman.

"Yeah, he's been totally down since you left. Why'd you go, anyway?"

Rinoa felt a familiar flutter in her chest at the mere idea of Squall still loving her. She reached up, touching the twin rings still worn on the chain around her throat. Greiver next to her late mother's wedding band. Zell's question required a moment of thought, memories of the day she left Squall still fresh and painful. She expected, then, that he would try to find her, go back to Timber, but she never made it to Timber or the Forest Owls, again. She wondered if he searched for her in vain, and for how long.

"Squall and I were having problems then, Zell. I left for Timber, to think. I guess he thought it meant forever. Maybe at the time I thought it did too. I don't remember anymore, it seems so long ago."

"It was. You've been gone for a year, Rinoa," Irvine said.

Rinoa blinked, staring at Irvine as if he were insane. A year? An entire _year?_ No wonder Zell and Irvine seemed so much older. They really were. The shock colored her features, turning her pale. How much has she missed? So much could happen in a year, so much changed. The boys exchanged looks between one another, again.

"How long have you been out?" Zell asked.

"I don't know, I assume that entire year, I never made it to Timber," Rinoa replied, having to get up now, rubbing her arms for warmth. How very cold she felt, and it had nothing to do with Adel's touch, or the familiar brush of the dead Sorceress' mind reaching for hers. "I don't remember when Adel came for me, the last I recall, I was on the train, going home."

"Whoa... no wonder no one could find you," Zell blurted out. "We searched all over for you for Irvine and Selphie's wedding and you were just gone. Squall was freaking out, well, as much as Squall _can _freak out, I guess."

Wedding? Rinoa spun around, glad to latch onto a new topic. "Irvine? You married Selphie?" She smiled then, the color beginning to return to her features. Once upon a time, she thought she would marry Squall, too. Was it too late for them? The gunman merely grinned, folding his hands behind his head and kicking his boots up on the coffee table in front of him. That was all the answer she needed, but for emphasis he held up a hand, the left one, to show her the wedding band there.

"We have a son already, Vaniel. You should see him," he added.

Rinoa suddenly needed to sit and promptly did so, flicking back the blue, sleeveless cardigan's tail. A year had passed by. Irvine and Selphie were already married and had a child even. She looked to Zell then in askance, "So... what has changed with you?"

The martial artist just blushed and shrugged his shoulders, admitting rather shyly, "Well, I got engaged to Jasia. You know, the girl from the library? No kid for us though. Irvine and Selphie had a bit of a shotgun wedding. No pun intended." The latter said with a snort as Zell glanced at Irvine, who couldn't help but laugh. Rinoa smiled at them both, but it was wistful. Everyone was changing, and none of them even realized it, except for her. All because she had lost an entire year.

Little did the three of them know, four more months had already passed without their knowledge.

Squall frowned at the infant in his lap, though Vaniel merely gazed back at him with those startling, cornflower blue eyes. Babies were loud and smelly and the Commander just didn't like them, no matter that this one seemed to be the exception to the rule. Rinoa wanted children, once. She nearly had him convinced that maybe someday they'd have one. Now, this just reminded him how vacant his world was without her, even if she'd changed.

In the aftermath of the memorial disaster, cleanup crews mopped up the mess left behind. The golem creatures easily succumbed to fire attacks. Selphie personally took offense at the one who imitated her late husband and fried it to ashes on the stage. Zell's clone tried to flee, but the crowd in the Quad literally pounced on it and by the time the smoke cleared, it too had been reduced to dust. Rinoa remained a mystery. She merely evaporated into a stream of smoke before anyone could touch her. No one knew if she were alive or dead, nor did anyone understand what happened to cause everything to shift.

Squall had been removed from the scene entirely by Quistis and Ellone and whisked away to his office on the third floor. This was now where everyone gathered. Selphie placed her son in the Commander's lap and paced in front of his desk. Quistis and Ellone talked quietly to one another and Laguna looked both tired and weary, conferring quietly with Kiros with Ward standing by silently.

"Do you think," Selphie mused aloud and everyone paused to look at her, "that maybe they're still alive?" Green eyes wide and hopeful, she wanted very much to believe that her cowboy wasn't really dead. A prisoner somewhere, maybe, but not dead. The last few months flew by in a haze, kept busy by caring for Vaniel. Quistis' presence saved her sanity as well, and the former instructor often watched over the infant so his poor mother could sleep. After all the tension between the two women previously, Selphie was very grateful they'd been able to put their differences aside. She needed her friends in times like this, very badly.

"Difficult to say," Laguna replied first. "It is a possibility, but we shouldn't pin our hopes on it. Squall saw them die, after all, I'd trust his memory."

_I wouldn't. _Squall thought to himself. _I_ _saw them die. I know I saw them die. I even held Irvine and watched him bleed to death. But, now I'm not so sure. How much of that was dream? How much real?_

Crestfallen, Selphie flopped down on a chair, holding her head in her hands. She hated having her hopes dashed like that and it only made Laguna suddenly feel bad for being so blunt. Kiros elbowed him in the ribs for it and Ward tried comforting the Headmistress by patting her shoulder mutely. Silence now permeated the office and if somehow Laguna could have gone back in time to kick himself before talking, he'd have done it. Luckily, the commlink blipped on Squall's desk, saving all of them from the awkward moment.

Scooting his wheelchair forward, Squall leaned over to hit the receive button, not at all protesting as the child was taken out of his arms by Ellone. "Squall here. Report." Static greeted them at first.

"Commander Leonhart, is President Loire with you?"

"Yes."

"We've located the Sorceress Rinoa. And apparently she has the assumed dead Zell Dincht and Irvine Kinneas with her."   



	6. Premonitions

Standard Disclaimer: Final Fantasy characters and setting belong to Squaresoft. 

Author's Voice: Some of this is confusing, I know. I was going to write about Quistis first, but ended up doing this, so her and Iboen's story isn't told yet. I promise I'll write about it though. Really! And worry ye not, Squall and Rinoa fans, the next chapter will deal with their reunion. I swear.

**Chapter 5: Premonitions**

Though it was well after midnight, no one wanted to sleep. Selphie piloted the Ragnarok at breakneck speeds, just like the old days before her position at Trabia Garden. Only the occasional admonition from Quistis got her to slow down and fly a little more cautiously. Everyone understood, of course, she wanted desperately to get back to Irvine. Jasia, the librarian Zell was engaged to, traveled with them for this. Selphie insisted on it, the two women had bonded over the incident, both believing their significant others to have passed on. It was only fair to bring Jasia along and let her be reunited with her fiancé. Squall felt much more subdued. Rinoa was with them, back in Esthar. The real Rinoa, apparently, not the apparition that cloned her body back at Balamb Garden. He wasn't sure how to feel about it. The last time he and Rinoa spoke, it had been to say good bye. She left him, did he expect her to fall into his arms again when they were reunited?

"Is Squall thinking _again_?" Selphie asked in exasperation, glancing over her shoulder at the Commander. Suddenly torn from his reveries, he realized everyone now stared at him. He frowned, and looked down at the infant still in his arms. Selphie had this odd habit of always setting Vaniel in _his_ lap. Her excuse when he finally, tersely commented on it? She figured he was sitting already and he wouldn't mind. Even when he told her, "Whatever," she just kept doing it, claiming he needed to get used to babies anyway. Luckily, Vaniel seemed the quiet child, though he had a liking for the fur lining of the Commander's jacket, always grabbing at it with chubby fingers. Then he'd try to put it in his mouth and Squall would have to grab that hand, amazed at how strong babies were once something had their attention, and pull the wet fur free before it became even more drool sodden. At least Ellone or Quistis would take the babe if he started to fuss, that was something. Squall had no idea what to do with a cranky child.

"So what if I was," he replied to Selphie, finally. There was a lot to think about, really. Rinoa was in Esthar. The woman he loved more than he could comprehend, whose absence left a palpable rift in his life, was suddenly within his reach. So many questions and so many doubts and so few reassurances. Thankfully, something on the console distracted Selphie and she didn't tease him further on the matter. Everyone else lost interest also, and Squall was left in peace to fend off Vaniel's attempts to grab at his fur collar.

The Ragnarok hardly landed before Selphie leapt up from the pilot's seat, dashing past Laguna so fast she knocked him back against Ward. Slowing without stopping, she turned enough to give the President a sheepish look, "Sorry." It hardly stopped her from continuing down the off ramp into the palace beyond. Everyone else filed off the ship with a bit less fervor, Ellone herself wheeling Squall into the palace behind the others. He was grateful that she took her time, allowing him to get ready for the inevitable. He heard the distant sound of Selphie's voice, screaming Irvine's name at the top of her lungs. The scene painted itself out for him before Ellone ever rounded the corner with the wheelchair.

Selphie had literally latched herself onto Irvine, who hardly seemed phased by the fact that she had her legs wrapped around him with her arms holding onto his neck while the two embraced one another in a rather passionate kiss. Squall immediately diverted his attention toward Jasia and Zell, who were merely hugging one another tightly, not quite the types to display such affection as the cowboy and the pilot were. Storm gray eyes sought out the familiar form of Rinoa, surprised that she wasn't in the room at all. He looked over his shoulder at Ellone, who could only shake her head. She knew no better than he did.

"Vaniel? He... he grew," Irvine's voice brought the Commander's attention ahead again, turning his gaze in time to see the cowboy lift the child's weight from his lap. It was easy to see the son took after his father when the two were together, even if the babe was only five months old now.

"Babies do that, you know," Selphie teased, far too happy to have her husband back to worry over his four month absence. "You haven't missed much, Irvy. Just him crying a lot and diaper changes and late night bottle feedings and..." her voice trailed off as the couple drifted away from Squall. Obviously they had a lot of catching up to do. For a second it made the Commander ache to watch them together, and it stunned him to realize it was out of jealousy. Irvine and Selphie shared a special bond, one Squall shared with Rinoa. Or had, once upon a time.

Leaning back, Squall asked Ellone, "Where is Rinoa?" She shook her head and gestured for him to wait a moment, walking away from him to talk with Laguna and Kiros. When she returned, she was smiling, grabbing the handles of the wheelchair to back up, turn him around and roll him right out the door.

When Ellone returned to the waiting room, she found it distinctly empty, save for Quistis, who sat on one of the couches by herself. In her lap rested Vaniel, the baby busy burbling over a plastic, neon colored toy the girl teased him with, reaching for it with saliva wet fingers. His feet kicked and he giggled with his fervor to get the toy from her hand. It was funny to see Quistis laugh, finally giving in and letting the infant put the toy in his mouth, where everything seemed to be going lately. Cornflower blue eyes flickered up toward Ellone as she approached, resting her hands on her knees as she bent down to peer back at the child. "Where did everyone go?"

"Oh, Laguna had some business to attend to, of course. Zell and Jasia ran off to get something to eat and I offered to watch Vaniel for Selphie and Irvine so they could, ahem, catch up on things," Quistis replied, sounding rather droll about keeping an eye on the baby. Straightening up, Ellone giggled, understanding what she really meant.

"That was really nice of you, Quisty," she said, sitting on the couch beside the former instructor so she could touch the baby's head softly. Just a smattering of hair there, and it was already turning a distinct reddish color. Ellone got the impression this one was bound to take after his father more than his mother. Poor girls of the future. "Squall and Rinoa are talking, I don't know how it's going. I figured it would be better for them to work things out on their own."

Quistis nodded in agreement, grabbing one of the while cotton towels Selphie left with her to clean Vaniel's face off. He seemed to drool more and more lately, getting it all over everything. Briefly, it made her think of Iboen, the boy she'd seen back at Dollet. He was safe there, wasn't he? She left the infant with trusted friends, and planned on bringing him to Garden as soon as he turned five and could be accepted as a student. As the assistant to the Headmaster to Balamb Garden, she just didn't have the time to be caring for babies, as much as she wanted to keep Iboen with her. She looked up at Ellone for a long moment of silence after hearing about Squall and Rinoa.

"Do you think they'll be able to settle their differences?"

Ellone sighed and shrugged her shoulders, the motion somehow brief and yet gentle. "Hard to say. Squall is stubborn, but so is Rinoa. Still, they've both changed so much. I can't really predict what will happen, Quistis."

Quistis nodded again, grinning down at Vaniel as the toy finally fell from his mouth and he twisted to grab at it with chubby fingers, cooing and burbling in the process. Never did she think a baby would capture her heart the way both Vaniel and Iboen had. It almost made her wish she could have a child all her own. But, no, Iboen was enough for her, and she hardly had time for him, let alone finding a proper mate with whom to produce her own offspring. Selphie and Irvine and Squall and Rinoa had something she felt would never really be hers and their idyllic romances set the standard. Quistis could never accept less from a man than the sort of devotion those two couples had. Though only twenty in age, she already doubted she'd ever have such a thing. Perhaps she simply wasn't meant to.

"Quisty, hello?" Ellone had canted her head to the side, leaning forward slightly to attempt catching the other woman's gaze. Quistis almost blushed as she realized she'd lost herself to thought and poor Ellone had gone on talking in the meanwhile. Grabbing the toy, she made sure Vaniel had time to grab it again and cleared her throat.

"Sorry, I was thinking. What was that?"

"I asked about Iboen. I heard about him, but I don't know how you found him."

"Oh," Quistis replied, shaking her head then as she considered how to relate the tale. Long and twisted, there was simply too much of it. "It's a long story, Elle. I only know that my eyes have been opened as to what we all are and why we were chosen to fight against Ultimecia. Iboen is the last of his... our kind. I have to keep him safe. Just like Vaniel here needs to be kept safe..." she trailed off as Vaniel suddenly stopped kicking his legs and stared at Quistis as if he understood every word she'd just said. Impossible, certainly, but the gaze almost sent shivers down the spines of both women. Then, that little face scrunched up and he began to wail at the top of his lungs, immediately being lifted by Quistis and set against her shoulder, over her heart, as she patted and rubbed his back to attempt soothing him.

After that, both of them fell into a very long, uncomfortable silence.


	7. No Leaf Clover

  
Standard Disclaimer: Final Fantasy characters and settings belong to Squaresoft. Lyrics belong to Metallica. All else, as per normal, is mine. 

Author's Voice: Don't even start thinking this is over. Mwahahahaha. 

**Chapter 6: No Leaf Clover**

_And it comes to be_   
_That the soothing light at the end of your tunnel_   
_Is just a freight train coming your way_

Dr. Odine pointed Ellone and Squall in the proper direction. Rinoa fled from his office, his answers disturbing her enough to send her off in tears. After that, neither knew where the Sorceress might have fled to. The palace remained locked this late at night, though doubtless someone of her power could easily escape if she chose to. Squall separated from Ellone, pushing the wheelchair himself with strong arms. After a few corridors, he spotted the tail of Rinoa's blue cardigan at the far end of a hallway, disappearing to the left. 

"Rinoa!" he shouted, reaching out to her before he realized she was gone and he would somehow have to catch up with her. Rounding the corner, the red carpeted hallway lead to an observatory, opened now for one to gaze upward at the night sky. There she stood, turned in the center to face him. Nothing like the distorted image of her he witnessed at the interrupted memorial, she radiated her warmth even at a distance, a star. No, the sun, and he revolved around her. 

"Squall..." she trailed off and his heart sung when he heard it. The soft soprano he wanted and not that strange abomination. She rushed toward him, but halted before actually reaching him. Horror filled coffee colored eyes, horror and disbelief at the state he'd been left to. "What happened to you? Did she... did I?" A hand instinctively reached for the twin rings dangling from her neck on a silver chain. 

"It wasn't you," Squall replied simply, keeping his voice soft, "I won't believe it was you. Tell me it wasn't you, Rinoa. And I'll believe you." 

A hand draping over her mouth, Rinoa couldn't hold back the tears after that. All this time she worried that Squall wouldn't believe her, turn her away. She shook her head in response and slowly dropped to her knees, falling against the wheelchair to weep into his lap. What had Adel done to him? A hand stroked at her face, drawing away deep umber locks from her cheek. Squall removed the glove so he could feel her skin, touch her without physical barriers. Unaccustomed to handling this sort of thing, he let her cry, wishing he could somehow loosen up right then, be the sort of man she needed. 

"I should never have left you." 

"I should never have let you go." 

For seconds that stretched out into minutes, these were the only words spoken between them. Rinoa's tears ceased as she felt his touch brushing at her hair, catching the familiar scent of him. She missed his warmth and the feeling his arms around her in the night. Slowly, she lifted her head, smiling at Squall sadly as he brushed the tears from her face, staring at her with those striking, storm-grey eyes. Not hardened, as she'd first seen him back at Timber when the SeeD team arrived, but full of wonderment now. Her chest tightened then, emotions welling into her eyes to release a few last tears, liquid opals spilt down porcelain cheeks. She started to say something more, to explain how Adel trapped her before she ever reached Timber, to make him understand she never wanted to be away from him for so long. But, he touched a finger to her lips, shaking his head. 

"None of it matters, Rinoa. I don't know, I don't care. I have you back. Promise me. Tell me you'll never go again." 

A smile crossed her lips then, almost making her giggle. Terse and taciturn Squall letting his heart finally open up to the bratty daughter of a Galbadian general. It made her want to laugh, to sing, to leap up and wrap her arms around him and squeal with joy. "I promise. Squall," she hesitated before her suggestion, uncertain how he would react to it and opted to be vague, "I can heal you, there is a way I can reverse your crippling." 

Intrigued, the commander canted his head to the side, ash blonde bangs brushing across his forehead in an unruly manner. He started to ask, but closed his mouth again, instead lifting an eyebrow in askance as this time she put her finger against his lips. "Do you trust me, Squall Leonhart?" He nodded. Slowly she rose to her feet again, breathing in deeply to gather energies of the cosmos that surrounded her, hands glowing until it spread along her entire body. Squall watched in rapt awe, even as she grew so bright he needed to shield his eyes. 

All that was asked of him, was to fulfill an old promise. 

The next morning, everyone gathered in Laguna's office again. Plans needed to be made, discussions to be held and it was better to do so after everyone had rested and had time for reunitings. Zell chattered incessantly with Jasia, sitting together on the couch a bit apart from Selphie and Irvine. Selphie had sunk to the ground between Irvine's knees, Vaniel on a blanket on the floor where the two proud parents were busy making goofy faces at their son, discussing what all happened in the four months the father had been absent. Quistis and Ellone stood in a horseshoe alongside Kiros and Ward, attempting to pry information out of Laguna. Dr. Odine seemed rather reluctant, for once, to say anything about Rinoa. But they all knew he'd spoken with the president about it. So far, Rinoa and Squall's absense hardly seemed relevant. 

"Laguna, come on. This could affect everyone. I'm guessing she's not a threat, really, but why can't you just tell us something about what's going on?" Kiros said in exasperation, folding his arms over his chest. Ward nodded in mute agreement with his cohort and Laguna sigh, reaching back to run a hand through his graying hair. Most of the arguing came from the presidential aides. Ellone and Quistis remained relatively quiet about it, though their concern was tantamount. 

Holding his hands up in a stand-offish gesture, Laguna shook his head, "Look, Dr. Odine is gonna be here later to discuss this anyway. You guys know me, I say things wrong sometimes and it's better if I keep my mouth shut and not get all of you confused." Though Kiros frowned, he and Ward exchanged glances after that and couldn't help but agree. It was why they were his aides, after all, to keep him from shoving his foot in his mouth all the time. 

The doors opened then, Esthar soldiers holding them to allow egress to Squall and Rinoa. Everyone paused and gaped at the couple. Squall stood at her side, no longer bound to a wheelchair. Hand in hand, they appeared as they had before the troubles with the Galbadian Revolutionary War, albeit a little older now. As usual, the commander's lips trained to a thin, neutral line while Rinoa smiled brightly, practically beaming toward the rest of the group. She had Squall back, there was no reason why she shouldn't feel pure elation. 

"Scuse, scuse, please," Dr. Odine said as he pushed the two forward a little, toddling toward the president, hands folded behind his back. "Oh, zis iz good. Iz everyone here? Good." Attentions flickered between staring at Squall and staring at the scientist. Clearing his throat then, Odine adjusted that comical collar of his and began. "Dere iz some concern over the Sorceress Rinoa. Vell, dere iz no more need to fear. The spirit of Adel can only possess a sorceress vhen she iz vith her powers. I have given her a bracelet zat vill nullify them. Zis alone vill protect her. Dere are no other Sorceresses known of in our time. Dis means Adel will eventually fade vhen she cannot find a host. Zis also means dat Rinoa vill not be able to be a Sorceress anymore, unless she removes the bracelet or passes her powers on." 

Relief flooded through the room, and Rinoa felt their acceptance more than heard or saw it. At last no one would look at her strangely, knowing that nothing could be able to possess her now. No more Ultimecias, no more Adels. Safe at last, and with Squall at her side, her Knight, nothing would ever harm her again. Selphie leapt to her feet first, leaving Vaniel with Irvine. She squealed with a girlish manner as she held her arms out to Rinoa to hug her. Quistis arrived soon after, and then Ellone. Soon everyone nearly piled around her, offering hugs and words of apology or reassurance. She nearly wept again as she realized no one cared about her Sorceress powers. All they wanted was for her to be safe and happy. 

Perhaps at long last they would all get their happily ever after. The long dark peirced by a ray of light. 


End file.
